File photo of Congress President Sonia Gandhi with her son and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, the top two leaders of the Congress, have been asked to appear in a Delhi court on August 7 in a case that accuses them of cheating and criminal breach of trust.
The case has been filed by the BJP's Subramanian Swamy who claims that the Gandhis broke the law to grab valuable properties in Delhi, including the office of the National Herald, a newspaper that was set up in 1938 by Jawaharlal Nehru. It closed down in 2008.
"I have found prima facie evidence against all the accused. The court has directed them to appear before it on August 7," said metropolitan magistrate Gomati Manocha.
In a statement, the Congress said, "In the National Herald matter, the persons named have not received any papers or information from the Court so far. They will seek legal advice and do the needful."
Mr Gandhi, 44, had threatened to sue Mr Swamy for defamation when the BJP leader first levelled the charges in 2012. In a letter to Mr Swamy, the Congress vice-president had derided the accusations as "scandalous abuse" and "as utterly false, baseless and defamatory." (
Rahul Gandhi threatens to sue after Subramanian Swamy accuses Gandhis of 'fraud')
Mr Swamy claims that the Gandhis floated a private company called Young Indians and "illicitly" acquired, for 50 lakhs, a public limited company called Associated Journals, which has property worth Rs. 1600 crore in Delhi. Associated Journals was set up by Mr Gandhi's great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, and others to publish newspapers that would offer Indians an option to British publications.
Mr Swamy has also alleged that the Congress gave an unsecured loan of Rs 90 crore to Associated Journals - illegal under the Income Tax Act because a political party cannot give loans for commercial purposes. (
Yes, gave 90-crore loan to revive Nehru's newspaper: Congress)
In response to the charges, the Congress ceded in 2012 that it had given "interest-free loans from which no commercial profit has accrued to the Indian National Congress" to help bring the National Herald "back to health in compliance with the laws of the land."